OWNER'S MANUAL.

More firms likely to offer health plans

Many small-business groups expect that the sweeping Medicare legislation approved by Congress last week will help more small firms provide health insurance.

Through health savings accounts included in the legislation, employers and employees can make pretax contributions to cover medical expenses.

The accounts are an expansion of medical savings accounts but provide more flexibility and fewer restrictions, according to the National Small Business Association.

"HSAs create a health-care system where employers, employees and medical professionals all have a stake in keeping costs down," association President Todd McCracken said in a news release. These accounts "will result in even more companies offering health benefits," he said.

The savings accounts can help employees cover medical costs until insurance plan deductibles are met. Health plans with higher deductibles generally have lower premiums, making them more affordable.

Senate panel chief backs health plan

Legislation to create association health plans, which have been heralded as the most promising way for small businesses to rein in health-care costs, remains stalled in the Senate.

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), chairwoman of the Senate Small Business Committee, recently scolded the National Association of Attorneys General for opposing the bill. Such efforts, Snowe and four other senators wrote in a letter to colleagues, are "ill-informed, misguided and out of step with the peril working families face as health insurance grows harder and harder to afford."

Under association health plans, groups like the National Restaurant Association could pull together thousands of firms to jointly negotiate health insurance coverage.

Supporters of the legislation argue that such plans would give small firms that same negotiating leverage with insurers that large companies enjoy.

Opponents contend that small firms not part of a group could see premium increases and that protections available under state regulations could be washed away.

Fax exemption sought on call rule

The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy is petitioning to change part of the recently enacted do-not-call rules. The Federal Communications Commission rules force businesses to get permission to fax, as well as call, customers or potential customers.

Complying with the faxing rules will cost small firms tens of thousands of dollars, according the Office of Advocacy.

To lessen the cost, the group wants to restore exemptions for established business relationships and other alternatives.